Chicago Bulls improve drastically offensively, but stands idle defensively

Outside of Zach LaVine, until they added Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline, the Chicago Bulls had a very hard time finding reliable guys in their rotation that could score on offense, resulting in them finishing the season ranking 21st in points per game and 19th overall in Offensive Rating. 

However, with the additions of DeMar DeRozan, who averaged 21.6 points per game last season, Lonzo Ball, who averaged 14.6 points per game last season and Alex Caruso, who averaged 6.4 points per game last season, they have three more reliable scorers that they have added to their rotation. 

Caruso is not as reliable offensively as the other two guys, as he is more known for his defensive presence, but he still shot 40.1% from three-point range last season, making him a viable perimeter threat for Chicago. Offensively, there is no reason why the Bulls cannot be a Top-15 offense in the league, especially with a group consisting of three All-Stars. 

Defensively is where all the questions will lie for the Bulls, even though they did add some guys who are known to be solid defenders. Ball and Caruso should both be solid two-way guards in the Bulls’ backcourt and DeRozan is a decent defender on the wing, but until we know the full roster for this team, it is hard to say whether or not they will be better on defense. 

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They did rank 11th in Defensive Rating last season and they did give up the 14th least points per game to opponents, making Chicago an above-average defensive team, but if they are to be a real threat in the Eastern Conference, they need to improve and move inside the Top-10 in both of these categories during the 2021-22 season.